


The Officers' Club

by NeverOutOfTime



Series: The Officers' Club [1]
Category: Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Humor, Minor Spoiler for The Fowl Twins, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25602706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverOutOfTime/pseuds/NeverOutOfTime
Summary: "You can call me Trouble in the officers' club on the weekend" (The Atlantis Complex, Chapter 8)An insight into the long friendship of two of the LEP's finest officers. A shared free spirit, gung ho attitude, and frankly blatant disregard for authority have got them into some notorious scrapes and brought some equally notorious triumphs. Although circumstance has sent them down different paths, the consistent haven of The Officers' Club remains a place to meet, offload, and reminisce.
Series: The Officers' Club [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1855675
Comments: 7
Kudos: 12
Collections: 🌊Artemis Fowl summertime fanfic exchange  🌊





	The Officers' Club

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HollyisShort](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollyisShort/gifts).



> Summary/prompt was written by HollyisShort. It was just so well written and is honestly a better summary than what I could come up with.
> 
> Lots of thanks to Pokegeek151 for betaing this piece! 
> 
> Slight spoilers for Fowl Twins, though this is set between TLG and TFT.

Located off the corner of Main Street and Three Oaks, two blocks down from Police Plaza, the LEP Officers’ Club was a common retreat for many off duty officers to relax, talk, and even have a drink if they so desired. Sure there were other bars and clubs around Haven City, but for some, the Officers’ Club was by far more welcoming, not to mention classier. While the same level of formality amongst the co-workers wasn’t required within the space, there was certainly less drama and risqué behavior, an atmosphere which was vastly preferred amongst those who had to deal with the drama of the entire city on a daily basis.

Holly Short was among that group of course; since her early days in Recon, the Officers’ Club had been a place to get away from the stresses of work and to truly be herself without having to worry about her actions affecting her position in the LEP. Here, all she had to worry about was not letting the other guys give her a hard time. Fortunately for her, she could easily drink them under the table, even if that only meant a shot or two more. As the first female in Recon, she had to set the standard somewhere, right?

‘Hanging with the boys’ took on a new meaning when you had to escort your best friend home after he had made a bet with Chix Verbil over whether or not he could down twice the amount he had the previous weekend. Trouble had won that bet, amazingly, but paid for it the next morning. Holly swore she’d never let him forget it, but honestly, she didn’t need to. After the grilling he’d gotten from Commander Root about coming to work hungover, Trouble shaped up and was much more cautious when it came to spending the weekend evenings in the Officers’ Club.

_Speaking of Trouble_ , Holly thought as she passed by the familiar building, seeing the equally familiar magna-bike parked out front. _It’s been ages since I’ve seen him here._ She smirked, pushing open the door. Her errands could wait until later. The bell rang softly at first, but the sound was quickly followed by a louder clink as the door slammed closed almost immediately. 

“Well now, if it isn’t Commander Kelp. I thought you were too high ranked to spend your time here anymore?” she teased, sliding into the booth seat opposite the violet-eyed elf. 

Trouble, who had been looking down at his communicator, jumped, but soon relaxed as he registered that it was only Holly. It was a quiet afternoon and the two were nearly alone, the only others being a trio of Retrieval captains who had taken up space at the bar. Holly and Trouble were in the back corner, at what used to be their regular table before life and work got in the way of social activities. 

He huffed, brushing off her jibe with a wave of his hand. “Now where would you have gotten such an idea, Short? Major Vein isn’t spreading rumors again is he? You know I could say about the same for you, Commodore. When’s the last time you set foot here?” 

Holly snorted, knowing he was right. “Oh come on now, Trouble. You know I’m only kidding. And keep that down, will you? You know the official announcement isn’t until tomorrow. I’d rather save all the excitement for then.” She sighed, shrugging off her jacket and placing it beside her. 

“Planning to stay a while, are you? What if I said I was just about to leave?” Trouble commented as he watched her, smirking as Holly narrowed her mismatched eyes at him. 

“Then, Commander, I would have to make you stay. Come on, enough of the formality Trouble. Don’t we have enough of that day to day? Put away the phone and relax. It's the weekend, and I know that was a work email; I got the same one just moments before I walked in.” Holly leaned her elbows onto the table, holding out her hand for his communicator, being sure to make eye contact with him. Trouble Kelp was just as inclined to be stubborn as a swear toad was to spew expletives at every passerby. 

He hesitated, halfway standing, when he caught her eye. “I- Holly, there’s work to be done.” 

“Trubs, I mean it. It’s a Saturday and you’re off duty, d’arvit! Take a moment for yourself for once.” Holly’s voice was sharp, but not hostile, and that was enough to crack through his usual strong-willed demeanor. Trouble sighed but continued to stand anyways. 

“Alright, alright. You got me. Care for a drink? It’s on me,” he offered, shaking his head as Holly started to get her card. 

“Just a smoothie. I’ve got errands to run after this.” She smiled, watching Trouble as he slipped off to the bar, conversing with one of the captains while he waited. He returned after a few minutes, two nettle smoothies in hand. He slid one over to her and sat back, sipping at the other. 

“See? It’s nice to actually stop and take a break, isn’t it?” Holly commented, noticing how his shoulders relaxed as the usual weight of command slipped away. She received an eye-roll for her efforts, but she laughed. “Don’t give me that look, Trouble. You know I’m right, and that’s the only reason you’re giving me that sass.” She leaned forward on her elbows, her eyes showing a spark of mischief; a look that Trouble knew far too well.

He set down his cup on the table, leaning forward as well as he matched Holly’s expression, the tips of their noses just barely brushing each other. If anyone was unfamiliar with the history between the two, perhaps the exchange would have been seen as flirting. Once upon a time, that would have been true. Now, it was more of a platonic scenario--flirting yes, but really it was just two friends teasing each other. 

“Are you sure about that, Short? If I didn’t know any better, I would say you liked that sass.” Trouble smirked, letting that tension hang in the air for a moment before he leaned back, laughing at the sight of the pink tinge that had crept to Holly’s cheeks. He ducked instinctively as she swatted at him, but her hand managed to clip his shoulder lightly. 

“D’arvit, Trouble! Cut that out! I’m being serious, and you’re trying to turn this into a joke!” She was laughing, though; for once she didn’t feel like Trouble was her boss, but one of her best friends, just as he always had been, always would be. She shook her head as she picked up her smoothie again, swirling it around idly. “Frond, you’ve been so serious these past few years, I was beginning to think you forgot how to have fun. I never thought I’d say this, but I actually miss having to drag you home after spending a night here.” 

“Well Holls, we aren’t as young as we were back then--not that we’re old, of course,” he added quickly, noticing Holly’s raised eyebrows. “I’m just saying a lot has happened in the past couple of decades.”

“You’re right, I suppose. Half of it has been spent so outlandishly that our past selves wouldn’t even believe a condensed version of events. Honestly, goblin revolutions, maniacal pixies, the near end of the world-”

“Don’t forget smarmy mudboys.” Trouble held up his hands as Holly tensed. “I’m not trying to be rude, Holly, I just… You know how Fowl is.”

Holly shrugged. “I can see your point. By the way, he’s supposed to come down to talk to Foaly about a project sometime next week. Just giving you a heads up so you can be on your best behavior.” She snorted, trying to hold back a laugh as she watched Trouble go from a look of annoyance to one that was slightly pained.

“Really? Can’t you give me more credit than that? Last time he visited, there was only a single disagreement and you said that you were pleased with the progress. It’s not easy, Holly. You may be able to get along with him easily, but you know how he gets under my skin..” Trouble shook his head and turned his attention back to his drink, noisily slurping. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine. We might not even cross paths this time.”

Holly didn’t respond; she didn’t need to. She knew Trouble was just rambling. He was right, though. Artemis did have the habit of managing to irritate people, sometimes intentionally, and often on his Haven visits, that person did in fact happen to be Commander Kelp. In all fairness, that previous altercation had been because Trouble had been unaware of the visit until he’d been called into the Ops Booth to speak with Foaly. The centaur had stepped out for just a moment, so Trouble had been greeted by Artemis, who had answered the call knowing fully that it was bound to agitate the elven commander. It was half the reason he’d answered, he’d told Holly later, still amused by the similarities of Trouble and the late Julius Root.

The two sat quietly for a moment, just enjoying each other’s company and what was arguably one of the best nettle smoothies in Haven, other than the one at the Moonlight Café downtown and the ones that Holly made herself. After a while though, Trouble laughed; a short, but hearty chuckle breaking the silence.

Holly cocked one eyebrow at him questioningly. "What's so funny? Don't tell me I've got smoothie on my nose." She'd resorted to taking the lid off her cup to get the last bit that a straw couldn't reach.

"No no. I just remembered that time you tackled Chix Verbil right outside of Root's office. First day on the job and already causing a ruckus.”

Holly spluttered, nearly snorting the last of her drink. She slammed the cup back onto the table, her voice rising to the point that the other occupants of the club looked over with mild concern. “You know he asked for it. It can't be any worse than the time Root told you not to fly over Heathrow and you, being you, decided to go anyway and nearly got run over by that plane.”

“That’s hardly fair, Holly. It’s a completely different kind of scenario! Besides, it’s not like you’ve ever followed the rule book.”

The conversation carried on as the two friends bickered; their banter quickly turning to stories of their past antics as they realized they were beginning to draw in a bit of a crowd. As the evening crowd began to drift into the club, there were more requests and the longtime friends were more than happy to oblige with more tales of past times. 

It all began when one of the Retrieval sprites had overheard the bit about the now Major Verbil, and was curious about what had gone down. Chix had been a bit of a mentor to the officer, believe it or not, and he was more than amused to hear about the altercation. Holly and Trouble glanced at each other briefly before launching into their recollection of the event; though perhaps a bit of it was exaggerated for the sake of pulling in the crowd further. 

Holly slid over, inviting the sprite and his buddies to join them at the table. “As Commander Kelp mentioned, it was my first day on the job, and as the first female in Recon, there were more than a few fairies with strong opinions about it, to put it lightly...” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the fic! It was fun to write and I'm so glad I could participate in the exchange! When I saw the prompt I immediately knew it was the one I was going with because I've been honestly wanting to do a fic focusing on Holly and Trouble's friendship for a while! 
> 
> Initially I had planned for it to be a multi-chapter fic, but time and real life got in the way of that. However, I still have all of these ideas and I really, really want to write them out, so I've decided to actually make it into a series! (Thanks to mentosmorii for suggesting that, I was super bummed that I didn't get to it all, but honestly I was trying to take on way more than what I could handle)
> 
> Part two is mostly written and will (hopefully) be up soon!


End file.
